Dream Fulfilled

Back in December we started on The Road to Peace and Tranquility. I’m happy to report that we’ve come to the end of that road. But that’s not a bad thing. That only signifies that we’ve arrived at our destination. Life begins anew in more relaxing, less stressful surroundings. I could go into details of issues and annoyances with neighbors at the previous residence, but it’s not important anymore. We’re home now. It’s so quiet, I can hear the birds chirping. I’m talking first thing in the morning when I wake-up, middle of the day and evening when the sun begins to set. It’s so beautiful.

From the time contract papers were signed to begin the construction, best believe I checked up on the building progress every step of the way. I’m talking about making sure I stopped by at least once every two weeks during the initial stages of construction in Jan-Feb, pretty much every week in March and up to 3 times a week from April – May. If you ever decide to build, it’s essential to make sure that things are done right, trust me. I spent a lot of time going over the property and structure when the project managers and workers were not around. However you choose to go about it is your business. That’s just how I handled it.

I have at least a thousand pics from beginning to end, so everything is well documented. Of course I wouldn’t dare post all those online, but there’s about 30 or so that I’ll share. It was kinda fun to really capture the moments. Here’s some of the pics of the process from beginning to the closing.

Dec 2008

Feb 2009

March 2009

Being that I’ve worked in the audio-visual field for quite some time, I did some of the structured wiring myself. I don’t advise this unless you know what you’re doing. I just couldn’t see myself spending $10,000 for Cat5, RG6 & speaker cables, so I snuck in and did a few hours of work for less than $500 in supplies and my own labor. It wasn’t easy, trust that. But I did it solo and saved some cash no doubt.

April 2009

Speaking of blessings from up above, I made sure to mark up the house with my favorite Bible verse, Proverbs 3:5,6. Trust in the LORD with all thine heart; and lean not unto thine own understanding. In all thy ways acknowledge him, and he shall direct thy paths. My grandfather taught me that verse when I was in my early teens when I was dealing with some issues in my life. I never forgot that text from that time period. Trust that I believe every single word of it today.

One day when the walls were open, I went in with a red Sharpie and wrote on the wood frames in the house. Of course all the walls are up now, but I know exactly where all my hidden spaces are. Gotta have some blessings for the rooms when the kids are born ya know.

Understand that I’m trying to make sure that my children don’t have to go through what I did. I’ve moved 22 times in my life. Yeah, I said twenty two. It’s been hard. I don’t remember staying at one place for more than 6 years. It made life difficult in trying to adapt to new surroundings only to be uprooted constantly. A good number of those moves occurred during my adolescent years, but I’ve also jumped around a lot as an adult in just the past 10 yrs alone. Moving takes a lot out of you. But in relocating so much, I learned very valuable lessons moving forward for the future.

I vowed to set a foundation in a place where my children can grow and not have worries about where they’re going to be one minute to the next. A place where they can have a sense of community, have friends to play with and be set in one school during those elementary years. My happiness lies in knowing that I’ve struggled, but all that has produced something that I’ve dreamed of to create a family environment. It didn’t come without hard work and won’t be maintained without hard work. But I’ve never been one to take the easy way out of anything. Put that with other blessings that God has provided, along with a beautiful wife and that’s enough for me to be happy.

June 2009

In all seriousness, this has been a journey for me and for my family. I only know a few of y’all personally, but in some ways we’re a different kinda family… a dysfunctional one at that (just kidding). I hope y’all don’t mind me sharing. Trust that it’s not to be arrogant or boastful. I’m not rich by far, just blessed… which means more than money. I’m still the lil’ kid that dreamed of one day having his own. It’s not a 30,000 sq ft mansion or a joint that’ll be on MTV Cribs. But after years of struggling and working, I feel a sense of pride to have my own home. God has really blessed us.

This entry was so moving. Although I can’t say I know exactly how you feel because I had a very quiet childhood in the same house my parents STILL live in, I know what it feels like to have something that you can call yours, despite your past struggles. I have a little boy with a man who hasn’t contacted him in 18 months. It furstrates me to no end that I’m raising him without his fatherm because his father chooses not to be around. But I find peace in knowing that God has blessed me with the means to provide for the both of us, and the day I went to settlement and sat with my son in my lap as I signed those millions of papers (with a NEGATIVE balance in my checking account, no less), I knew without a doubt that no matter what, God would always take care of us, no matter what happened around us, because He has given us a place of Our Own.

CONGRATULATIONS!!! What a wonderful accomplishment, and a beautiful start to a family….with such meaning.. I move a lot as a kid too, I have tried to keep my kids in the same place as well. Blessings to you and the wife, Well Done on the house. Be proud, and ENJOY! It’s gorgeous…and yours!

WOW! Yalls home is BEAUTIFUL. It LOOKS peaceful. That’s amazing to be able to capture it being built from just a plot of land and then viewing the finished product. Good looking out on doing the wiring yourself and save $$$$!